Showdown at Rupp: UK’s ‘on a run’; Tide seeks to be ‘pretty special’
COVID. A game postponed (South Carolina). Games canceled (Michigan and Detroit Mercy). Keion Brooks sidelined. Cam’Ron Fletcher sent home to reassess. Terrence Clarke considered the point guard. Clarke sidelined. Six straight losses. Dontaie Allen’s emergence. Brooks’ bravo — if belated — coming out party.
Kentucky’s season has been anything but boring. Next up is another headliner: playing Alabama on Tuesday night with first place in the Southeastern Conference going to the winner.
“I feel it’s very important,” Isaiah Jackson said of UK taking a 3-0 SEC record against an Alabama team that has a 4-0 conference start for the first time since an 8-0 peel-out in 1987. “Every game we’ve played this year was a war. And it’s going to continue on. And this one is a war, too.”
As Coach John Calipari likes to say, Kentucky is undefeated (in January as SEC play ushers in a fresh start). Overall, UK is 4-6.
During Monday’s teleconference, Jackson spoke of a renewed Kentucky.
“We’ve been playing, like, perfect the last couple games,” he said. “We’re just on a run right now. We’re just going to try to keep this going.”
Olivier Sarr spoke of better team morale after three straight victories to start SEC play.
“It feels better,” he said. “It feels great. … We stayed positive during the tough time. You can feel guys are feeling more confident. We are all feeling more confidence. We’re comfortable. It feels great.”
Sarr spoke of better offensive execution being one reason for Kentucky’s different look in recent games.
“I think everybody can see we’re executing way better,” Sarr said. “Our offense is looking way better. We’re sharing the ball. We’re having fun out there, and it makes a huge difference in the games.”
Alabama feels good, too. Coach Nate Oats recently said of his players, “They realize we’ve got something special going.”
The Tide, 9-3 overall, was one of four SEC teams that received votes in The Associated Press Top 25 poll this week. The others were Arkansas, Florida and LSU. The only ranked SEC teams were No. 10 Tennessee and No. 17 Missouri.
Alabama has had different players lead the way in different games. Freshman Joshua Primo scored a season-high 22 points in the 94-90 victory over Auburn last weekend after being scoreless against Florida four days earlier.
“If we can get everybody playing at the same time, we’d be pretty special, I think,” Oats said.
Expect the unexpected
Auburn freshman Sharife Cooper made his season debut against Alabama last weekend. He had an adventurous game: 26 points, nine assists, five turnovers and three steals.
Oats noted his team’s “zero days of preparation” for Cooper. “We didn’t plan for him at all,” Oats said.
The SEC named Cooper its freshman of the week while also naming Mississippi State guard Iverson Molinar its player of the week.
Oats spoke of not being surprised again at Kentucky.
“We’re preparing for Terrence Clarke playing,” he said of the UK freshman who sat out the last three games because of an ankle injury.
Distracted?
While some might argue that a protest against systemic racism is more important than a basketball game, Sarr was asked if the UK team kneeling during the national anthem at Florida might be a distraction going into the Alabama game.
The symbolic gesture stirred comment on social media.
“Not at all,” Sarr said. “That’s part of what we do. We’re just locked in on what we’ve got to do. People talk outside. We just focus on the court. Focus on what we’ve got to do to get ready for that game. And I think we’re more than locked in and more than ready to play that game.”
Ebb Tide
Alabama’s 6-26 record against Kentucky in Rupp Arena includes a current eight-game losing streak. The Tide last won at UK on Jan. 14, 2006.
Among SEC teams, that’s the third-longest period without a victory at Kentucky. Relative newcomer Missouri has never won at UK (0-7). Auburn’s last victory at UK came on Jan. 9, 1988. John Caylor hit a last-second three-pointer to enable Auburn to win 53-52.
Etc.
Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will call the game for ESPN.
